It's a motto that Tracy Lampley goes by every day. It's a way for the former Southern Miss star and now Petal assistant coach to stay motivated now that his football playing days are over.

"You can't take anything for granted," Lampley said. "You have to take what God gives you and go to work. If there's something you want then go out and grind and get it. That's what I try to tell my guys every day. Go work for it."

The days of the special teams playmaker dazzling fans at M.M. Roberts Stadium are long gone. Now his days are spent waking up before the sun turns the sky orange to fix his newborn son, Tracy Lampley Jr., a bottle.

Then, Lampley heads off to Petal's field house to watch a little game film by himself before making the short trek over to the high school where he spends his time working with the special education students.

"Working with those kids has really opened my eyes," Lampley said. "Here you got kids that don't have the same opportunities other kids have that are still blessings. Anything I can do to help them just feels right."

When it's time for the Panthers to get ready for practice, Lampley jogs over just in time for warm-ups. When they are over, Lampley flips the switch from laid back and smiling to serious, barking orders at the young Panther wide receivers.

It makes Boyles swell with pride. He sees Lampley as a sort of protege.

Boyles coached Lampley when the pair were winning state championships at Wayne County, but the longtime coach knew Lampley even before he grew into a star.

"I remember him way back in junior high," Boyles said. "(Tracy) was always the smallest, but he made that up with his toughness. He never went down on the first hit. He took the hits and kept on ticking."

Boyles immediately took a liking to Lampley and his work ethic. While Lampley was still in junior high, Boyles would allow Lampley to travel with the team, which meant everything to Lampley.

"I was under his wing," he said. "I knew he would ask a coach to come pick me up so I could travel with the team. He wanted me to be around it and be around the winning so I would know what it would take, know how tough I had to be."

Lampley used that toughness to win a state championship with Wayne County in 2006 before moving on to play for the Golden Eagles from 2009-12. But that's when the struggles really came for Lampley.

After a short stint in the Canadian Football League, Lampley spent several weeks by the phone waiting for a phone call that would give him his first coaching gig.

"Those were some tough times," Lampley said. "Not knowing whether or not the phone was going to ring was stressful. I knew I had to flip the switch from player to coach, but I just needed someone to give me that chance."

Around that same time Lampley and his fiance, LaKenya Seales, had their first child, a daughter, Morgan, which only doubled the stress the pair were experiencing. Luckily, Laurel coach Todd Breland hired Lampley as an assistant for the Golden Tornadoes. Lampley spent three seasons with Laurel.

"I'll always be thankful for those guys because they taught me how to transition from being a player to being a coach. Because for me, that was tough," said Lampley.

Eventually, Lampley made his way back under Boyles' tutelage, this time as colleagues.

"He helped mold me as a player," Lampley said. "Now I'm lucky that I get a chance for him to help mold me as a coach. Me and him just have that kind of relationship."

The old wide receiver mentality still creeps in, however, both on and off the field. Lampley, who is still seeking his teacher's license, is preparing for the PRAXIS, a test that all teachers must pass to become certified. In order to accomplish this, Lampley has enlisted several teachers at Petal to help him study for the important test. Even Boyles' wife, Myra, helps Lampley study when he has short breaks.

But when he's not studying or taking care of his family, Lampley is schooling his wide receivers group by putting on his cleats and physically showing them how to run routes.

"They think I still don't have it and they tease me," he said. "So I have to put my cleats on to show them I still got it. Plus it helps them to see how it's done, instead of just telling them."

With his whole life ahead of him, Lampley, as well as Boyles, know that this is only the beginning.

"With his knowledge and his personality, I think he will be a college coach," Boyles said. "He would be a great recruiter because he knows how to reach the kids. This is only his first step."

"That's the plan," Lampley said. "I want to coach college, but if it's not in God's plans then it's not in God's plans. If I can't coach college then I'll be a head coach for high school. I just want to teach and reach kids and help them."